Page 55 of Redemption

My heart breaks all over again.

I’m still trapped with the madman who wears my love’s face. And his devotion to me is more fanatical than I ever could’ve imagined.

He’ll keep me in this gilded cage forever, and I fear that one day, I may no longer want to fly away.

He reaches up and brushes the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs.

“I don’t want to make you cry.”

Now I’m the one sinking to my knees. They’re too shaky to support me. My chest convulses on a harsh sob.

I want him, and I hate myself for it. No one has ever cared about me the way Dane does. It’s tempting and terrifying in equal measure.

His arms close around me, strong enough to support me but gentle with my healing body. True to his word, he’s not causing me an ounce of physical pain.

My tormented soul is another matter entirely.

“I’ve got you,” he promises.

“I know.” I choke on another sob. “I know.”

16

DANE

Blood. So much blood. It’s splattered across my face in droplets that are beginning to cool. It’s wet and sticky on my hands where I’m grasping my sister’s dress. I’m shaking her, screaming at her.

Katie isn’t breathing. She doesn’t answer when I say her name over and over again.

How can she answer when half her face is missing?

A car horn blares incessantly, deafening me. I shake my head sharply, as though I can toss the maddening sound from my ears.

I can’t escape from it. My seatbelt is stuck.

If it weren’t, I would’ve tumbled into my sister.

The Jeep is on its side. We rolled off the country lane and down a steep hill when my father took a particularly fast corner.

I don’t know how long we’ve been here, but it’s dark outside, and my voice is raw from screaming.

No one has come to save us.

No one has come to save Katie.

My father is slumped over the steering wheel. It’s not an unfamiliar sight to see him passed out after a night of drinking, but this time, there’s a thick crimson stream that flows down his slack face.

The car horn rings in my ears. I’m clawing at them, raking my hands through my hair as though I can pull the sound from my mind.

Katie is looking at me with one eye, but she doesn’t see me. She doesn’t see anything.

I cry out for help, for salvation, for mercy.

Anything to escape this nightmare.

After a while, I go quiet. I accept that no one will come for me.

No one will bring my twin sister back to me.